Web Marketing Today
Issue 70, February 1, 2000
Theme: Viral Marketing, Part 1
This month in Web Marketing Today we're looking at so-called "viral marketing." It's become a buzz word that's used, misused, abused, and co-opted to cover whatever marketers are trying to push. This week I examine the basic theory this week and include a list of annotated resources. Next week I'll write on "Viral Marketing Techniques the Typical Business Website Can Deploy Now." I'll also review the "Recommend-It" button which promises viral benefits to all websites. You could help me a great deal if you'd e-mail me this week about viral marketing techniques you've found helpful for your business. I'll feature some of your thoughts in both the article and "E-Mail to the Editor."
I've placed Recommend-It links on my FREE new http://DoctorEbiz.com e-mail newsletter, and on the "thank you" page after people sign up to receive this newest of my newsletters. If you haven't already, I'd REALLY appreciate it if you'd subscribe to Doctor Ebiz RIGHT NOW, (http://DoctorEbiz.com). Then try the Recommend-It button, and let me know what you think.
Thank you for the sense of love and support I feel from you, my loyal readers. I learn so much from you -- and then try to echo it back to you with articles in Web Marketing Today -- and, soon, in Doctor Ebiz (http://doctorebiz.com).
Blessings on you,
Ralph F. Wilson, "Doctor Ebiz" (http://DoctorEbiz.com)
P.S. My wife and I are celebrating our 32nd Anniversary this weekend. God is good!
The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing
"Viral marketing" has been used as a marketing buzzword for months. But what is it really? What makes viral marketing tick? Read the Article.
Resources and Articles on Viral Marketing
I've collected and annotated a list of articles and resources in the area of Viral Marketing to help you learn and explore this strategy. See the Resources.
Here are the Viral Marketing, Part 2 articles from Issue 71, for your convenience:
Viral Marketing Techniques the Typical Business Website Can Deploy Now
Here are some techniques that you can use on your site while you put your brain to the task of designing a really killer viral marketing plan. Read the Article
Comparing Viral Marketing Strategies to the Six Principles
Want to understand viral marketing better? Here's a brief analysis of several viral marketing sites as they relate to the "Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing" we discussed last week. Read the Article
Review: Recommend-It.com
Recommend-It.com is oldest and largest referral system around. Here's a review of the ups and downs of this program. Read the Review
E-Mail to the Editor on Viral Marketing
Our readers suggest a number of successful techniques they are using. Here are some gems! Read the E-Mail
And from Links Issue 72
Viral Marketing Plan Case Study: DoctorEbiz.com
An explanation of how I am using these techniques to launch a new e-business newsletter. Read the Article.Odds 'n' Ends
Business Week
I was pretty jazzed to hear that our site was featured last week in "Site Seeing" by Karen C. Cheney, in the Frontier section of Business Week, January 31, 2000, page F30. http://www.businessweek.com/premium/00_05/b3666020.htm The paragraph about our site reads:
"For tips and news on Internet marketing or e-commerce, Internet guru Ralph Wilson's Web site www.wilsonweb.com is a favorite spot among small-business owners. "It's bar none the best e-commerce resource out there," says Scott Segal, CEO of Internet startup iJewelry Inc. "You can find out about online merchandising, software, online security, and demographics." For full access to the site, you must pay an annual $49.95 subscription fee. But there's plenty there that's free, including the twice-monthly e-mail newsletter Web Marketing Today, which covers everything from site promotion to optimizing listings on search engines. Chat on Web marketing in the site's active forum or check out its Research Room for the largest collection of articles on e-commerce at any single site, with 43 categories including credit-card issues, Internet commerce law, and shopping-software technology."
Wow! Thanks Karen Cheney and Scott Segal for such a wonderful vote of confidence. Y'all can subscribe to Web Commerce Today for $49.95 and get full and instant access to our E-Commerce Research Room at http://wilsonweb.com/wct/ Business Week can't be wrong, now, can they? :-)
Our site was also cited in Asian Business, January 2000. the most widely read business magazine in Asia. We are very honored! I really have a heart to see e-commerce bring economic prosperity to Russia, China, India, and other Southeastern Asia countries.
In addition we were honored with an award from Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Britannica Internet Guide Award. This is a tremendous honor. Thank you. http://www.britannica.com
The same month we also were featured as a selection for the Scout Report for Business & Economics. The Scout Report, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is one of the oldest and most prestigious reports of Internet sites of interest to educators and academic researchers.
Conferences
Here are some conferences I'll be speaking at in coming months:
- Web Commerce 2000 Las Vegas sponsored by ThunderLizard, will be held May 15-16, 2000 at the Grand Hyatt Lake Las Vegas Resort. I hope you'll plan to come. http://www.thunderlizard.com/wc.html?wilsonweb
- eMarketing 2000 London, June 5-6, 2000, sponsored by the Academy of Internet Commerce (http://www.aic.uk.com). I'll be speaking via Video Conference.
- I don't have firm dates yet, by expect to be keynoting an e-commerce workshop for the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Executive MBA Program Alumni in April. http://cba.unomaha.edu/xmba/
Jay Abraham's Billion Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Super Summit may sound a bit pretentious, but it was the finest Internet marketing conference I've attended or participated in. A dozen world-class speakers and plenty of interaction with action-oriented attendees made it intense, stimulating, and exhausting. I'll let you know when tapes are available.
E-Mail to the Editor
Dan Janal's Guide to Marketing on the Internet
I was very disappointed in Janal's new book. He constantly refers to resources, then never gives you any of them. For example, he mentions virtual trade shows. Pretty intriguing, but who does them? Where do I find them? The whole book is sorely lacking in referencing websites of value... One chapter is on developing a marketing plan. It has no examples or models at all. It basically rambles on about a mixture of ideas. -- Dan Seidman, www.SalesAutopsy.comEditor: Dan, I think you misunderstand the nature of this book. It is an introduction to Web marketing, rather than an in-depth reference source. As a basic introduction I believe this book is tops.
